Vegan Family Menu Planning on a Budget

I will be the first to admit that I am not a naturally organized person, in any way. Before kids my husband and I were living in the city, across the street from a Whole Foods. Dinner was usually a quick jaunt across the street and a look around the store to see what seemed good at that moment. Fast forward a few years and we are living in WY, the nearest Whole Foods is 3 hours away, oh and add two kids.

My time is extremely limited. I don't have the time or money to take a trip to the store for each meal. So, I have been forced to try and develop a few methods for organizing myself. I have a menu planner and grocery list that help me to plan for the entire week and to stay on budget.

 Here is my blank menu planner

	Sun.	Mon.	Tues.	Wed.	Thurs.	Fri.	Sat.
Breakfast
Lunch
Snack
Dinner

 Here is my blank grocery list. I fill the two out in tandem. I stick the meal planner on the fridge and the list in my purse.

Fresh	Dry/ Canned	Frozen
		Other

 Here is a sample menu, with links. Please note that I left out side dishes so you can fill them out to fit your needs. You will also notice that I am big on leftovers, this serves two functions 1) waste not 2) waste not thine time when food hath been cooked.

	Sun.	Mon.	Tues.	Wed.	Thurs.	Fri.	Sat.
Breakfast	breakfast scramble,  fruit, juice, vitamins	cereal, toast, fruit, juice, vitamins	burritos made from leftover scramble,fruit, juice, vitamins	cereal, toast, fruit, juice, vitamins	Blueberry Muffins fruit, juice, vitamins	cereal, toast, fruit, juice, vitamins	oatmeal, muffins,fruit, juice, vitamins
Lunch	Almond butter and jelly, fruit, water, veggies	leftovers	leftovers	Almond butter and jelly, fruit, water, veggies	leftovers	wraps, fuit, veggies, water	leftovers
Snack	Snack 1 fruit leather Snack 2 pita, veggies, hummus	Snack1 crackers and vegan cheese Snack 2  homemade fruit pops	Snack 1 fruit Snack 2vegan crackers and cheese	Snack 1 fruit leather Snack 2 pita, veggies, hummus	Snack 1 fruit Snack 2vegan crackers and cheese	Snack 1 fruit leather Snack 2 pita, veggies, hummus	Snack1 crackers and vegan cheese Snack 2  homemade fruit pops
Dinner	Cauliflower penne	Sloppy Lentils	Black bean and sweet potato burritos	Pasta primavera	Layered Enchiladas	Manacotti	Mom's night off/fend for yourself

Here I have started the list for you. Please note that there is a ton of stuff on this list that you already have on hand, so remove accordingly.

Fresh	Dry/ Canned	Frozen/Refidgerated
Sweet potato	Olive oil	Vegan sour cream
Red onion (2)	Black beans (3 cans)	Daiya cheese (mozzarella)
spinach	Chili powder	Extra firm tofu (2)
avocado	Flour tortillas (2 packages)	Veggie crumbles (optional)
Avocado	Red lentils	Vegan parmesan (optional)
Romaine lettuce	Apple cider vinegar	Almond milk (2)
lime	Brown sugar	Soy milk
Red pepper	Tomato sauce	Juices (we like vegetable juice and OJ)
Head of Garlic	Fire roasted tomatoes	Frozen blueberries
½ lb mushrooms	Cumin	hummus
Bunch of kale	Salt and pepper	Daiya sliceable cheese for snacks
White onion(2)	16 oz can enchilada sauce
Grape tomatoes	Green chilies
Mixed veggies for manicotti  and veggie scramble, and hummus dipping (unless you have some already)	Cayenne pepper
Fruit galore (seasonal. For each meal, smoothies, fruit pops, snacks)	Salsa
Bunch asparagus	12 pack of corn tortillas
1 zucchini	Vegan burger buns	Other
1 carrot	Manicotti noodles	Vitamins
Basil	Spaghetti sauce	Toilet paper
lemon	Nutritional yeast
Head of cauliflower	Italian Seasoning
Sprig of flat leaf parsley	Garlic powder
	Spaghetti noodles
	chickpeas
	Whole wheat penne
	Whole peeled tomatoes
	Kalamata olives
	Capers
	Crushed red pepper
	turmeric
	Bread (2+)
	Fruit leather
	Jelly
	Almond butter
	flour
	Vegan sugar
	Ener G Egg Replacer
	salt
	Baking powder
	vanilla
	Vegetable oil
	cereal
	crackers